It is the usual practice to form the selvage or makeup of a sock by inlaying a plurality of rounds of polyurethane elastic yarn on the needles of a circular hosiery knitting machine and then knitting a course of body yarn so that the stitch loops are alternately positioned in front of and behind the rounds of elastic yarn and the yarns connecting the upper ends of these adjacent stitch loops pass over and surround the rounds of elastic yarn. When the first course is knit of a nonstretchable yarn or of stretchable and nonstretchable yarn, the nonstretchable yarn is loosely looped around the rounds of elastic yarn. The rounds of elastic yarn are inlaid under tension and tend to cause the top or selvage of the sock to roll or curl outwardly and the loose loops of nonstretchable body yarn surrounding the rounds of elastic yarn cause the selvage to have an uneven and unsightly appearance. This rolling or curling of the selvage of the sock has been a long-standing problem and various proposals have been made in an attempt to correct this problem.
Most of these proposed solutions have included the knitting of either held or tuck loops in the first course and these held or tucked loops are formed for the purpose of drawing the rounds of elastic yarn together and inwardly against the upper edge of the leg of the sock. However, the held or tuck loops actually cause the upper edge of the sock to tend to roll outwardly and the plain stitch loops formed therebetween protrude outwardly from the selvage edge to form a ragged appearance. Also, the formation of held or tucked loops in the first course of the makeup requires the use of special patterning in the knitting machine and may cause a different appearance in the makeup or selvage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,492 discloses two embodiments of a sock selvage in which held loops are formed in spaced wales of the first few courses of the makeup. Another embodiment of the sock of this patent includes tuck loops formed in spaced wales of the first few courses of the makeup.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,819 discloses the successive formation of both tuck and held loops in spaced wales in the first few upper courses of the selvage of the sock. U.S. Pat. No. 2,247,343 discloses the formation of successive series of tuck loops in spaced wales of the first few courses of the selvage. U.S. Pat. No. 2,139,606 discloses the formation of held loops in spaced wales in the first few courses of the selvage.